The European Union and Mexico have announced an intention to accelerate trade talks and are planning two additional rounds of discussion on a “reformed free trade agreement”, Reuters reports.

The next two rounds for the EU-Mexico trade negotiations will take place in April and June 2017

Last year, the EU and Mexico initiated negotiations to update their existing free trade agreement from 2000, pointing out that global trade patterns had changed substantially during the subsequent 16-year period.

“The purpose of this modernising process is to better mirror other ambitious trade deals that the EU and Mexico have negotiated lately,” said the two trading partners.

Mexico is second biggest trading partner for the EU , after the US and Canada. Between 2005 and 2015, annual trade flows between the two had more than doubled from €26 billion ($28 billion) to €53 billion.

One of Europe’s previously stated aims in the negotiations was to define more flexible rules of origin criteria, allowing products to benefit from lower customs tariffs.

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